Radiation-emitting semiconductor components of the type mentioned have a semiconductor body with a p-conducting side and an n-conducting side, which are in each case connected to a contact area. The contact areas are generally formed as metal areas to which, by way of example, a wire connection can be connected or by which the semiconductor body can be mounted onto a chip pad. During operation, an operating current is impressed into the component via the wire connection or the chip pad. A highly doped contact layer, to which the contact area is applied in the form of a contact metalization, is usually provided in the semiconductor body.
In the case of semiconductor components based on GaN, AlGaN, InGaN and/or AlInGaN, which are referred to hereinafter as “GaN-based” for short, a p-GaN contact layer is often used on the p-conducting side of the semiconductor body. A comparatively high contact resistance occurs here upon the connection of the p-conducting contact layer and the contact metalization. The electrical power dropped across the contact resistance is converted into heat loss and is no longer available for the functional operation of the component, for example for generating radiation in the case of a radiation-emitting component. In the case of GaN-based components, the proportion of the power loss dropped across the contact resistance with respect to the total electrical power may amount to 50% or more. Furthermore, the resulting heat loss leads to heating of the component, the component being at risk of damage at excessively high temperatures. Therefore, it is desirable to keep the contact resistance as low as possible. This applies in particular to laser diode components which are operated with a high current and have a high thermal sensitivity. Thus, temperature changes may lead to instabilities in the laser mode and changes in the emission wavelength. Furthermore, the laser mirrors may be damaged by excessively high temperatures, which generally results in an irreversible total failure of the laser diode.